Freak Like Me
by Thedragon456123
Summary: After being kidnapped by two scientists with a wild dream, Kurt's entire life is turned upside-down. Klaine. Rated T for blood. Takes place somewhere in season 2, so there will be some one-sided Furt from Kurt's side, but he'll get over it quickly, don't you fret. Wing!fic
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own this. Any of it. Also my science isn't legit.**

Now that Kurt was in Glee club, he finally started having good dreams again. He knew that he was a mess before, with being suicidal and all, and Glee had been better for him then the others knew. He finally had a place where he was safe and could be himself without fear of being beaten up or yelled at. And even if Rachel was annoying and Finn was straight and Santana was a bitch, Kurt loved every minute of it.

It was 1:00 AM and Kurt was in the middle of one of these good dreams when sounds woke him up. He sat up in bed, immediately alert and awake as he listened to the silence around him, wondering if he was hearing things. When he was about to lay back down, he heard it again and his attention shot to the window, where the knocking, scraping sound came from. The window was open.

Relief washed through him. Kurt must have left the window open when he went to bed. The sound must be from the neighbors or some squirrels or something. He got up and moved lightly across the room to the window to close it, glancing outside just in case. That was when a dark shape rushed towards him, knocking him to the floor and leaving him breathless. A hand clamed over his mouth as he tried to scream for help. He fought desperately, struggling against the man sitting on top of him. Then he got a brilliant idea.

Kurt sunk his teeth into the man's hand, tasting blood. The man brought his hand back with a yell that must have woken Finn because he heard his half-brother groan from the next bed. "Finn! Help!" Kurt screamed before the man's hand clamped over his mouth and a fist slammed into his face. He struggled and bit his hand again but it didn't work this time. He saw Finn stand up near him, and he gave a muffled yell.

"Hey!" Finn shouted. He stepped toward the two fighting on the ground before another guy behind him hit Finn in the back of the head with a bat. He fell face first on the floor, unconscious. Then Kurt felt something sharp press into his neck and he was out like a light.

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Burt woke with a start to the sound of his son screaming for help. He shot out of bed and clambered down the stairs to the door of Kurt's room. He tried the door, but it was locked. He cursed and started banging on the door, hearing the muffled screams from his son just behind that block of wood. It tore him apart to be so close to saving his son. After losing his wife to cancer, he couldn't let the only joy left in his life be taken away, and with one final burst he shattered the door, wood splintering around him. He rushed into the room and stopped short, taking in the sight in front of him.

Kurt's bed was unmade, which was not normal for him at all, even if he did get up in the middle of the night. There were splatters of blood on the floor. The window was wide open, the white silk curtains that Kurt had insisted on buying billowed in the slight breeze, giving the room a hollow, ethereal look to it.

And Finn was passed out on the floor.

And Kurt was gone.

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When Finn walked into the choir room Monday morning, Mercedes knew something was wrong. First of all, Finn did not even approach Rachel OR Quinn. He just trudged over to the back corner chair. Finn _never_ sat in the back corner chair. Second, Finn was without Kurt. It wasn't like the two were best friends or anything, but Finn had been walking Kurt to as many classes as possible for a while now, and it wasn't like him to forget. Thinking back on it, where _was_ Kurt? Mercedes hadn't seen him that day, and he _always_ texted her if he was missing school for any reason. Something was up. And Mercedes Jones would find out what.

She stood up and marched over to stand in front of Finn, placing her hands on her hips. "Where is Kurt? I swear, white boy, if you went back to tossing him in dumpsters I will make you wish you had never been born, you hear?"

Finn looked up at her, a hollow look in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mercedes."

"What happened?" she demanded.

"He was kidnapped."

Everyone's conversations halted and they all turned to look at Finn. Mercedes stumbled back away from him. "It was around 1:00 AM on Sunday; I heard him screaming for help, so I got out of bed and there was this guy on top of him trying to hold him down and keep him quiet. I went to help Kurt, but then something hit me in the head and I passed out. When I woke up, Kurt was gone."

Mercedes fell into a chair, holding her head in her hands as she tried to process Finn's words. _Kurt was gone…kidnapped? But…why?_

"What…?"

"Mercedes…he's gone. He's gone." Finn's voice broke, and his head dropped into his lap, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

Puck pulled up a chair next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me; as soon as we find out who's taken him, you and me can go beat the crap out of that bastard."

Mr. Shue chose that as the perfect moment to walk in. "What happened to you guys? What's got you so down?"

"Kurt got himself kidnapped!" Santana snapped, looking ready to kill.

"Oh my god," Mr. Shue sat down on the piano. "What happened? Do you have any ideas where he could be?

"The police said that there were about twenty other cases like Kurt's kidnapping. They were telling us about people all over Ohio that have vanished in the middle of the night, only to show up again lying on their own front porch, tied up and gagged three days later. Which means we're not going to look for him. The police are just going to hide around our house and wait for the kidnappers to bring Kurt back. The things is, when the victims are returned, they get really sick and they… die a couple days later." Finn choked out the last couple words, returning to crying silently along with Rachel and Mercedes.

After many long minutes, Rachel stood up. "Mr. Shue? Can I sing something please? For Kurt?"

"Go ahead, Rachel."

Rachel stood in front of the Glee club, tears streaming openly down her face as she sang.

 ** _"_** ** _God on high_**

 ** _Hear my prayer_**

 ** _In my need_**

 ** _You have always been there_**

 ** _He is young_**

 ** _He's afraid_**

 ** _Let him rest_**

 ** _Heaven blessed._**

 ** _Bring him home_**

 ** _Bring him home_**

 ** _Bring him home._**

 ** _He's like the son I might have known_**

 ** _If God had granted me a son._**

 ** _The summers die_**

 ** _One by one_**

 ** _How soon they fly_**

 ** _On and on_**

 ** _And I am old_**

 ** _And will be gone._**

 ** _Bring him peace_**

 ** _Bring him joy_**

 ** _He is young_**

 ** _He is only a boy_**

 ** _You can take_**

 ** _You can give_**

 ** _Let him be_**

 ** _Let him live_**

 ** _If I die, let me die_**

 ** _Let him live_**

 ** _Bring him home_**

 ** _Bring him home_**

 ** _Bring him home."_**

As the last note hung in the air, Rachel came forward and hugged Finn, and the rest of the Glee club did the same, hope and sorrow passing through their bodies like an electric current.

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Kurt was dragged from his unconsciousness with a pain in his back more intense than he had ever known. He writhed in agony against the bonds. _Bonds? I'm tied up? Where am I what's going on oh my god it hurts!_ The events of last night flooded back to him and he let out a little whimper of fear. Fresh waves of throbbing pulses of pain screamed through his back as metal cut and scraped and stabbed and _oh my god why!?_ He jerked his head around to look behind him and saw two pristine men in scrubs, well, pristine except that they were covered in blood. _My blood_ Kurt realized, and that brought on a whole new terror because there was so much of it! One of the men was out of his line of vision, a fact that Kurt was grateful for, because if he saw what they were doing… The other man seemed to be an assistant, holding sharp metal tools that glinted with maniacal grins. Kurt screamed in pain as the knife hit a nerve and set fire to his back, tears running down his face. _This is sososososo much worse than being slammed into lockers._ "He's awake," Kurt heard from behind him. He said this so casually, like he was saying, "There's some nice weather today," or, "I'm going to go walk the dog."

A lower, meaner voice grunted and growled, "I'm almost done."

"Can I at least numb him?" asked the first. Kurt felt a surge of gratitude for the man. At least he knew one of them had a heart.

"Fine," the other said, "You've always been soft."

While the first guy injected some kind of numbing stuff in Kurt's back, a million questions did a frenzied tango through his head. _Where am I? Why am I here? What are they doing to me? How did I get here? What's going on!? Just let me go…_

After an eternity of lying there, feeling the painless tugging sensations in his back and trying to put meaning to the scientific jibberish his kidnappers were rattling off, he felt the two men step away from him. Then they stepped into Kurt's view, the blood on their lab-coats and gloves boiling his stomach. They stood there staring at him until Kurt finally got sick of the silence. "What are you doing?" He said, his voice shaking. He blinked tears from his eyes, not wanting them to see him cry

Guy number one gave him a sympathetic smile, while guy number two just laughed coldly. "We're improving the human race; one at a time. But before we get there we need to perfect our methods. You're the 23rd person we've tried this on. So far, the others have died somewhere along the way. But we are confident about you."

Guy number one stepped forward. "Here's how this will go: We are going to keep you here for three days while we prepare you. Once that time is up, we'll send you home where the rest of the process will be completed automatically. Questions?"

Kurt stared at him. Yes he had questions; he had a lot of questions. "What process? What's going to happen to me?"

Guy number two chuckled. He walked over to a screen that was currently showing a bunch of numbers and charts and swiped his hand across the screen, bringing up two light blue diagrams. The first one was a regular human shape, but the second was much more interesting. It was completely ripped, a perfect picture of what any human would beg to be. Except for the wings. That's right: the figure had wings.

"Oh…" Kurt breathed, realizing what that meant.

"I don't think we're going to go that heavy with the muscles this time. You're just not right for that. We'll make you light and quick on your feet. But you'll still be powerful. You'll be our biggest success," said guy number one proudly. "We'll do two groups of injections in all of your major muscle groups each day and a few more surgeries before we send you home."

Kurt closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the table, taking a deep, shuddering breath. He couldn't believe this was happening. First he was kidnapped, and now he was an experiment; a play thing to some crazy scientists. He wondered if his dad was worried, if Rachel was turning it into some crazy drama and singing about it. He wondered if Finn was looking for him, and if so, who was helping. He wondered if Quinn and Mercedes were praying for him.

Then he felt the straps on his wrists and ankles being taken off. He was about to try and fight and hopefully escape, but then he heard a click and felt a smooth circle press against his cheek and he froze. "I don't want to have to use this, but if you push me, I will not hesitate," said guy number two in a soft and threatening voice. Kurt froze, a small whimper escaping his lips. "Now turn over."

Kurt flipped onto his back, hissing at the wave of pain the washed over him from the movement. Guy number one held his arm out, his grip strong and painful while the other one grabbed a plastic rectangle with six long needles sticking out of it in a grid. Kurt tried to pull away, but guy number one's grip was like iron. The needles pushed all the way into his bicep. He let out a low groan, his muscles clenching and flexing as the needles slowly pulled out of his skin.

They repeated the action again, twice in each arm, twice in each leg, a few times on his chest and stomach and back. Then his head was forced to the side and he felt one more needle press into his neck and he couldn't stay awake any longer.


	2. Chapter 2

It was three days after Kurt had disappeared and Finn was anxious. According to all of the other kidnappings, Kurt would show up bound and gagged on the front porch, with no memory whatsoever of what had happened to him in the morning. The police were holed up outside their house, but Finn didn't think it would work. If the dudes who took Kurt weren't afraid of Burt's gun, there was no way they'd be afraid of some dudes with donuts.

What really worried Finn was how sick Kurt would be when he got back home. They even had an ambulance waiting just around the corner to take Finn's brother straight to the hospital. Apparently they even had some special doctors for the people who had been kidnapped. How they made a college course for that so fast Finn had no clue.

He stared out the window, watching in vague interest as a white van with dark windows rolled down the street, slowed down slightly in front of the house and then quickly sped up again. He saw a police officer talking urgently into a walkie-talkie from behind a bush like he and Puck would as children. Another officer ran inside the house. "We're going to stop that van, just in case. We think it looks suspicious. We'll call you if anything happens."

Finn sunk onto the couch next to Burt, who had barely slept or eaten since Kurt had been kidnapped. "It's going to be okay. We'll get him home and the police will catch whoever did this."

"I'm just scared that he'll die like all the others," Burt said, not looking up. "I've already lost my wife. I… I don't want to lose him too."

"You're not going to lose him." Finn assured, "Kurt's stronger than anyone else I know. He'll make it."

Burt looked up at him. "Thanks, Finn. You're a great kid."

Finn was about to respond when his cell phone rang. He lunged across Burt to grab it off the coffee table. "Hello?"

"Burt Hummel?" an official sounding voice asked.

"Finn—and Hudson-Hummel," he corrected on instinct.

"Oh, um, we found your brother."

Kurt was in…a dumpster? No smelled too good. It was moving, rocking back and forth like a lullaby. It was dark. No maybe it wasn't dark. There was light just beyond whatever was keeping the darkness so close. Was it cloth? Yes it was it was black cloth and it was covering his eyes and it was dark. His mouth was dry. His mouth was dry but his tongue couldn't move because there was something else in his mouth. It was also cloth. So there was cloth on his eyes and mouth and…hands? No there wasn't cloth on his hands because it wasn't cloth it was…what was it…Rope! It was rope. There was cloth on his mouth and eyes and there was rope on his wrists. And on his ankles because he couldn't move his legs.

But now Kurt needed to figure out what the not-dumpster was. It moved. The floor was cold and rough. It was a van. Behind the persistent buzzing he could hear panicked voices. They were hard to make out.

"They have police!"

"They're onto us."

"We have to get rid of him."

"Where?"

"…Here."

All of a sudden Kurt felt hands grab him and then he was air-born. He hit the ground with a grunt and pain exploded in his body before everything went black.

Burt paced anxiously in the hospital waiting room. The air smelled like cleaner trying to cover up death. He had tried everything he could but the damn desk woman wouldn't let him through. Now he was just sitting, waiting, hoping for some kind of news. Finn was there too. He had tried talking to Burt, but the man was too caught up in his worried thoughts to pay any attention. And then, as if his prayers had been heard, a door swung open and a woman in a lab coat stepped out. "Family of Kurt Hummel?"

Burt didn't know he could stand up that fast. He was in front of the woman in a blur with Finn right next to him. "How is he? Can I see him? Is it bad?"

The woman held up a single hand to silence him. "I've been sent to take you to his doctor. Follow me." She didn't wait for a response before turning on her heal and walking through the door, leading them down a couple hallways until they came into a small room, where Kurt was lying in a hospital bed that nearly doubled his side, wearing a gown that he would hate, and attached to many different tubes and wires. Ignoring the other person sitting in the room beside him, Burt ran forwards, grabbing his son's hand and pressing it to his forehead. He stayed in that position for a full minute, saying a silent prayer, before someone interrupted him.

"Mr. Hummel? We need to talk about your son's condition." The woman had short black hair and dark eye make-up, wearing a lab coat just like everyone in this God-damned hospital.

"Is it bad?" Burt asked.

"Please, can you hold all questions or comments until I'm done? This is very difficult to explain and im not going to say it twice. Clear?" Burt nodded wordlessly, completely stunned by the woman's ferocity. "I am Dr. Jane Fox. You could either call me Jane or Dr. Fox or even Hey You; I don't care as long as you can get your point across. Now tell me, how much do you about the past kidnapping cases in Ohio?"

Burt didn't say anything.

"You can answer me."

Burt chuckled. "Sorry. I know that teens are getting kidnapped for three days, returned, and then get really sick and die later. Right?"

"That's about right. Sort of. You see there are many parts of the story that have been left off to the public; parts that I will now tell to you. But first you need to promise to be very careful about who you tell about this. Only close friends and immediate family should know, only with your permission, and by no means should be on the internet. Clear?"

"Crystal."

"Okay. So from what we have gathered, these kidnappers aren't just kidnappers. They're brilliant scientists. Mad, but brilliant. And they're in need of test subjects." Burt gasped. _They were doing experiments on my son?_ Jane rolled her stool over next to Kurt and showed Burt a round bruise on his neck. "He has injection sites like this one on his arms, legs, chest, and back."

Burt knew he wasn't supposed to ask questions, but he couldn't hold back. "What did they put in him?"

"I was getting there." Jane's voice was calm but stern. "We have reasons to believe that they injected him with muscle enhancers, which should kick in in two or three days. They also used a very powerful sedative, which is yet to wear off." She ruffled his hair, a small smile on her face. If Kurt had been awake when she did that, he might have slapped her. "He must have put up quite a fight." Was that _pride_ he saw on her face?

"Yeah well that's my son for you. Always the fighter."

"I just hope he can keep that fight up. These next couple days could be the hardest of his life."

An alarm went off in Burt's head. _What did she mean by that?_ "What's going to happen to him?"

"Well it has to do with how the other victims died. He's going to start out with a fever, which will get worse as time goes on. He should also experience nausea and back pains which will also get worse until…" She opened a file she was holding in her lap. "Here's what happened to the first victim." She held out a photograph to him.

Burt almost vomited at what he saw. He assumed that it used to be a person, but it was covered in horrible growths and blood and strange fleshy lumps. Tears came to his eyes. He was completely speechless. _This was how Kurt would die?_

"Now that's just the first victim. Since then, the kidnappers have refined their methods. I don't think they're trying to kill the victims; they just need them for an experiments that have not yet worked out, but I think they're very close to succeeding. It's possible that he might survive this. Here is the most recent victim." She handed him another picture, which Burt almost dropped when he saw what it was. It was an image of a shirtless guy lying on his stomach on a hospital bed, blood covering his perfectly muscled body. But the most alarming part of it was the pair of enormous brown feathered wings that had sprouted from his back. "He would have lived if he hadn't gone into shock after it happened, so as long as we can keep Kurt calm, he might live."

Burt was about to laugh and tell the woman she was crazy and look for the hidden camera, but then his son stirred and groaned next to him, his green eyes sliding open slowly.

"Daddy?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Daddy?" A voice croaked that certainly couldn't be his son's; it was too fragile, too delicate. But when he looked down at his only child he saw that his eyes were blinking open, squinting at the harsh lighting of the hospital room.

"Hey, buddy. How you feeling?" Burt took his son's hand gently, trying not to look at the lines of circular bruises left by multiple injection sites where they put who-knows-what into him. His son was awake. His son was alive and with him.

"Nauseous," he muttered, "What happened?"

"You…" Burt frowned. "You don't remember?" Kurt hesitated; narrowing his eyebrows, then shook his head. Worry flashed through the mechanic like a wildfire. He didn't remember? Did he have amnesia!?

"They never remember anything when they get back," Jane said, addressing Burt.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked, sounding so lost and Burt just wanted to beat someone up. His son looked up at his doctor, and suddenly shock flashed onto his features. "Wait…Jane?" Burt looked from the young woman to his son.

"Do you two know each other?"

"My son goes to his school. He's a freshman," Jane explained. _Ok. That makes sense._ But apparently Jane wasn't finished. "I was leaving the school after dropping him off when I passed the dumpsters, where some guys were beating Kurt up. Just as I stopped the car to get out, they threw him in a dumpster and left. I patched him up and gave him some Advil. The next day, they did it again, so I helped him again and it just kind of became a daily thing."

Burt looked down at his son in shock. _He trusted a random woman over him?_ "Why didn't I know about this!?"

"You were sick!" Kurt exclaimed. "And besides, it's stopped now. Finn and I ride to school together every day so no one would dare get near me. Please don't worry about it. Now can you guys tell me what's going on?"

Burt wanted to yell at Kurt from keeping all this from him, but Jane had already launched into a much more gentle version of an explanation. Burt's eye's remained glued to his son's face while she talked, but Kurt didn't react at all, even when she showed him the wings. When she was finished she waited silently, letting Kurt processes her words.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, and Burt was prepared to comfort him, but all that came out was, "I missed my Sound of Music singalong."

 **Finn's POV**

When Burt had gone into the hospital room to see Kurt and talk to his doctor, Finn hung back in the hall, listening to two guys yelling at each other, one of which had an extremely strong Australian accent, and watching them with a small smile on his face. They totally liked each other. One of them looked very young, with crazy pale skin, messy white hair, and icy blue eyes. The other guy was a whole head taller than him and probably a bit older, with tan skin, bright green eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair.

Finn didn't understand doctor talk and he figured Burt would want some time alone with Kurt, thus the sitting outside. He considered calling the rest of the Glee club. He decided to wait until he had more information so Rachel didn't scream at him. So Finn resigned himself to playing Angry Birds on his phone while he waited outside the door. It seemed like hours until Burt and a really pretty lady in a lab coat stepped out of the door. The woman walked away before Finn had a chance to flirt but Burt walked right up to him. "I have to make some calls. Could you stay with Kurt for a minute? He's awake."

"Yeah. Of course." Finn tried to keep from sprinting into the room like a puppy promised a bone.

When Finn laid his eyes on his brother his throat went dry. He was covered in more bruises than he had ever seen on the younger boy, which was saying something. And he was stuck with so many tubes it was disturbing. The worst part, however, was the fact that Kurt was sat up in his bed doing _homework_ of all god forsaken things. Kurt looked up from his binder, jumping slightly when he noticed Finn, who was apparently very stealthy. When he got a hold of himself he spoke. "Hey," he croaked his voice the exact opposite of what it usually was. Finn hoped he would get better before Sectionals.

Kurt and Finn were staring at each other awkwardly, so Finn cleared his throat and spoke. "How you feeling?"

"Fine." Kurt gave him a sweet smile; the same smile he gave out every time Karofsky slammed him into the lockers.

"Come on, Kurt," Finn pleaded, "You can talk to me."

"I'm…" Kurt's voice broke. "I'm fine." The tear that came down his cheek kind of made Finn believe him less.

Finn felt a spike of panic hit him. He didn't comfort crying people often (besides Rachel, but that usually just took a promise of jewelry), but he was willing to try it for Kurt. How hard could it be? He found some space next to Kurt on the bed, putting an arm around his shaking shoulders. "What is it, man?"

"She said that I would probably die," he said between sobs. "I'm just… I'm scared. I don't want to die…" Kurt stopped trying to resist and buried his face in Finn shoulder, sobbing brokenly. Finn didn't really know what to do. He hadn't dealt with a dying person before. He didn't want Kurt to die.

"You're not going to die, Kurt. You're the strongest person I know. You're like, invincible or invisible something. I always get those confused." He ran his fingers through his future brother's hair, surprised when he didn't get killed, marveling at how soft it was even when he had just been kidnapped. Not to be gay, but _woah._

It was many long minutes before Kurt pulled away from Finn. "It would be better if you didn't bring this up to Dad. He's sick and I don't want him to worry too much."

"Sure," Finn said, "That's okay. I get that." Kurt finished wiping his eyes just as Burt walked back into the room.

"I called the guys at my work. I'm going to take a couple more days off work to stay with you."

"You don't have to do that."

"Of course I do. I'm not going to let you stay here alone." Finn opened his mouth to say something, but Burt interrupted him. "Finn, you are going to school."

"But-"

"You need to go to school."

A small smile spread across Kurt's face. Despite the inevitability of school, Finn smiled too. It was nice having some normalcy. If he tried, he could almost imagine his brother wasn't in a hospital bed.

Finn walked into the Glee club meeting, buzzing with excitement. "Guys! Kurt's back!" he shouted excitedly. "He said we could all come visit him in the hospital!"

The rest of the club greeted him with wide smiles as they left the room to go to their cars. "How is he?" Rachel asked, taking Finn's hands.

A momentary wave of exhaustion rolled over his features before he covered it up with a loving smile. "He's really sick, but he's okay. Come on, you can ride with me."

That was how the entire Glee club ended up piled in a small hospital room, Rachel and Mercedes sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed, the latter holding his hand and keeping one arm wrapped firmly around his shoulders. Everyone was talking and laughing, trying to pretend Kurt didn't look as bad as he did. His skin was even paler than usual, and he was drenched in sweat his forehead burning. His breathing came in unsteady, shaking gasps, like every inhale hurt him. Then things went downhill.

Kurt crushed Mercedes's hand in his, a small gasp escaping his mouth. Everyone froze. "Kurt? Mercedes asked, "You okay?"

Kurt relaxed his hand. "Yeah…I-AH!" His words were cut short by a loud cry ripping past his lips. He moved his hand around to his back, and it came back with blood on his fingertips. "Finn, get Dad." Finn hesitated. He had no idea what was happening. "Now!"

He sprinted down the hall, finding Burt talking with the pretty doctor lady. "There's something wrong with Kurt!" Finn cried, "He-"

No one let him finish. The pretty doctor starting yelling at people, who immediately started moving and grabbing stuff. "Finn," Burt said, "This is very important. You need to go home. Get all your friends to go home too. Got it?"

"No! I can't leave Kurt!"

"Finn. Please. You need to leave."

There was something scarily serious on Burt's face that made Finn incapable of arguing with him. He turned and ran back to Kurt's room. Kurt was breathing heavily and groaning like when Quinn had given birth, his heart monitor going crazy. He clung to Mercedes's hand like a lifeline. "It's okay, boo. Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. I've got you," she murmured in a soothing voice. Kurt gave a high pitched whine in answer.

"Guys, you all need to leave."

Everyone looked at Finn like he'd punched them. Cries of, "No way!" and "We can't leave him!" rang through the room.

"I'm sorry, guys, but you have to leave. I don't know what's going on, but Burt said we all have to go, now please-" Finn was cut off when Burt burst into the room. The look on his face was enough to make everyone stand and walk out the door with a last glance at Kurt, who was still writhing and groaning on the bed. Finn even managed to coax Mercedes away from him. He walked with everyone down to the waiting room, watching them get in their various cars.

"Are we going?" Rachel asked, taking Finn's hand.

Finn gave her the keys to his car. "I'm going to try to figure out what's happening to Kurt. You can go back home."

Rachel nodded. "Can you call me when you know about him? I'm worried."

Finn had already sprinted back into the hospital, finding Kurt's room easily and trying to open the door, only to find it locked. He could hear faint sobbing from behind the door. Finn had to know what was happening. He went to the room's window that looked out into the hall, but the blinds were down. Lucky for Finn, one of the blinds was broken, and he could see through a small crack.

Kurt was lying on his side on the bed with his eyes scrunched closed, Burt sitting in a chair in front of him, holding both of his hands tightly. Four people, including the pretty doctor were standing behind him, but Finn couldn't see what they were doing. Kurt was crying in pain while Burt desperately tried to calm him down. "I can't do this," Kurt moaned into Burt's shirt, "Please, make it stop…daddy…"

Burt positioned himself so he was eye level with his son. "Kurt, look at me. You need to breathe. Come on, do it with me. In..." He inhaled deeply through his nose. Kurt tried to mimic his actions, but by the way his chest was moving rapidly, he wasn't succeeding. "Out." They exhaled together out their mouths, and then repeated. Kurt stared into his father's eyes as he struggled to breathe, a level of trust passing between them that was more powerful than anything Finn had ever seen in his life. The tears had stopped, but the pain seemed to be getting worse with every passing minute. Kurt couldn't hold back the loud cries that left his lips every couple seconds.

Burt looked up at the pretty doctor. "Please tell me it's almost over." The pretty doctor lady grimaced.

"Honey, it's not even started yet."

 _No._ If this was just the start of whatever this was, then Finn was terrified of what was going to happen to his brother. He sunk to the floor, leaning against the wall and listening to the muffled screams from behind it. He sat there for about an hour before the screaming became so loud and painful that he had to see what was happening. Finn peeked through the hole in the blinds.

They had Kurt lying completely on his stomach now, and Finn couldn't tell if Burt was trying to comfort him or hold him down. It was probably both. Kurt was screaming in pain, his face buried in is pillow, but it did almost nothing to muffle the noises. Then Burt shifted, and Finn got a good look at his back. There were two huge lumps on his back, under his skin. It looked like they were trying to force themselves out. And they were getting bigger. Finn almost threw up. So much worse than Quinn giving birth.

The he noticed the white haired guy he had seen earlier, the one that had been arguing with the Australian guy. He looked like couldn't decide whether to cry or throw up, tears welling in his crystal blue eyes. Australian guy kept glancing over at him, worry clear in his face. Finn knew what it looked like to pretend to be cool and hard, just to keep a supposed image. He had had plenty of experience with that. "Jack," Australian dude said, "We don't need you in here anymore. Don't you have paperwork to catch up on?"

Now he definitely looked like he was going to cry, and he ran from the room. Finn felt a slight bit of anger that the dude wasn't in there helping his brother, but he couldn't blame the kid. Luckily he didn't notice Finn crouched by the window.

The doctor who had just kicked out Jack leaned over Kurt and gently touched his back, then pulled away sharply. He looked at pretty doctor, his eyes narrowed sharply. "He's almost done." The three people (pretty doctor, Australian doctor, and brown haired nurse lady) all stepped away from Kurt like he was a bomb, pressing themselves against the wall.

"Mr. Hummel," the pretty doctor said firmly, "You need to step away from him. We don't want you to get hurt."

"No! I can't-" Burt didn't get to finish what he was saying. Kurt let out one last heartrending shriek and his skin ripped open; two enormous things like bloody kites burst from his back, splattering blood on the walls and everywhere else. Finn stared in horror as one of the weird things hit Burt directly in the chest and sent him flying backwards, where he slammed into the wall, cracking the back of his head and losing consciousness.

Kurt had stopped screaming. Now he just laid there, his fists clenched and panting heavily, tremors pain of rushing through his body like he was being shocked. He let out a pitiful moan and leaned his head on the pillow, tears slipping down his cheeks. The two doctors ran around, probably checking his vitals or something (Finn had heard them talking about that on that doctor show Rachel likes), while the nurse rushed off to deal with Burt.

"I can't believe it…" The pretty doctor muttered, "He's alive. And he's not going into shock or anything."

Kurt whimpered softly.

"We should put him out," the Australian dude said. The other doctor nodded, still appearing dazed, and opened a drawer. Then another drawer. Then another drawer. She came back white as a sheet.

"Aster…" Aussie looked at her, and then groaned.

"Don't tell me…"

"We forgot the sedatives." They both looked down at Kurt, who had started crying again and was still twitching violently, the kite things lying limp against him like blankets.

"I'll go get them," Captain Kangaroo said, making his way towards the door. Finn started to panic. If this guy saw him, he was dead. Luckily, Jack came to the rescue.

Finn hadn't seen him coming. He was just suddenly in front of him, and Finn jumped, because seriously, the guy looked like a ghost. He glanced down at him for a second and Finn's heart jumped, but the albino intern didn't seem interested in him. Instead he ran straight into the room. "You forgot the sedatives," he called.

The pretty doctor took the medicine from him. "Thank you so much, Jack. What would we do without you?"

Jack grinned, and then glanced hopefully at Crocodile Dundee. When the doctor didn't even spare him a glance, a look of disappoint flashed in his eyes and he left the room, heading straight for Finn. Finn tried to pretend he wasn't paying any attention to what was going on inside the room. "You're his brother, right?" he asked softly, crouching beside him.

"Yeah," Finn said, twiddling his thumbs nervously. "Aren't you gonna kick me out of the hospital or something?"

Jack chuckled. "If I worked here, I would have to. Lucky for you, though, I'm just a lowly intern." He made a face. "Just be glad Aster didn't find you first. He'd have you out of here faster than you could make fun of his accent"

Now it was Finn's turn to laugh. "Thanks, Jack."

Jack grinned. "You are welcome."

Finn's expression grew serious. "Hey, you're kinda-sorta a doctor, right? Is he gonna be okay?" The way Finn was looking at Jack, he probably looked like a puppy, but he kind of wanted to know.

Jack' smile faltered, and it sent a spike of panic through Finn. "I hope so. I really like Kurt. And Aster seemed pretty confident he would make it."

Finn went pale. This guy _liked_ Kurt? "Wait so…"

Jack's face turned bright red. "No! I would never- I'm not saying Kurt isn't desirable or anything and I mean I am gay, but he's really not my type and…"

Finn laughed, for the first time in a couple of days. "It's cool bro, I get it."


	4. Chapter 4

After a long hour of Jack arguing with Aster (which wasn't anything new) and the pretty doctor arguing with Aster and Finn arguing with Aster, they finally explained everything and let Finn sit in Kurt's room until he woke up. Burt had been moved into another room so they could watch him, thought they didn't expect anything to be wrong. The kite things, which Finn still refused to call wings, had been cleaned of all the blood and were now almost so purely, intensely white Finn had trouble looking at them under the harsh hospital lights. But look he did.

Their top edge rose about five inches above Kurt's shoulders while the bottom reached all the way past his feet. The bottom had hard snowy feathers as long as Finn's forearm which got shorter as they went up so the more muscled top edge was covered very thickly with small, soft down. Finn had been trying to resist the urge to touch them for at least an hour, but they just looked so alien and beautiful the way they rippled with every breath he took and reacted with his body. Finn reached out and ran one hand over the top edge of the appendage, then pulled away sharply when a shudder ran through Kurt, starting in the wing and going through his whole body. Slowly he reached out again, running his hand down the outer edge, expecting the same reaction but Kurt didn't move.

They were even softer than Finn expected. The feathers felt like air underneath his fingers. He got so lost in the feeling of the silky feathers sliding between his fingers that he didn't notice his brother stirring, or the soft groan escaping his lips. "Finn?" he mumbled sleepily. Finn jumped and pulled his hand away quickly.

"Hey Kurt," Finn said, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not dead?" Kurt voice was quiet, almost like he was whispering.

"You almost were. You scared me."

"Where's Dad?"

Finn paused. He didn't want to freak Kurt out knowing that he had knocked out his dad and put him in a hospital room of his own. "He's in the cafeteria getting some food. We didn't think you'd wake up so soon."

Kurt acknowledged him with a soft hum, then his eyes shot open and he jumped out of the bed, the various wires and tubes ripping off of him, causing blood to run steadily down his am from where the IV had been pulled out. Finn yelped in surprise, reaching for his step brother. Kurt managed to stay standing for half of a second before pitching backwards, his back slamming into the wall and a small hiss escaping his mouth. Finn pressed the little button by the bed, and then jumped forward to help him, grabbing his shoulders and letting Kurt lean on him heavily, his wings opening and closing like a butterfly did when they had just hatched out of a cocoon. The doctors had said that he might have trouble getting used to the new weight on his back.

Finn was shocked when it was Burt leading the charge into the room, with the three medical staff and an intern on his heels. He must have woken up. The five of them stopped short when they saw Kurt standing up, his wings half open, his body shaking with the effort of standing and holding up the two new additions to his anatomy, which must have weighed at least 30 pounds. "Kurt!" the pretty doctor snapped, "You need to be in bed."

Kurt ignored her, his head resting against Finn's shoulder. "Can I- Can I see a mirror?"

"Kurt, I don't think that's a very good idea."

"No, I-I need to see them. Please"

"…okay." She reached out and grabbed Kurt's arm gently, letting him hold on to it while they walked slowly and carefully to the bathroom, where there was a full body mirror on the back of the door.

Finn watched him examine his new body silently. The wings weren't the only change to his body. Somehow, he had gotten muscles. They weren't particularly big muscles, Kurt was still tiny, but they were well defined and faint at the same time, clearly strong, but not bulging. Still, Finn wished he could get insta-muscles.

Kurt turned around, looking over his shoulder at the mirror. The torn skin around where the wings had come out had been stitched up, and didn't look exactly appealing. Kurt frowned. At the same time, the feathers on tops of his wings ruffled, like a bird's did when it was agitated. Kurt reached up and tried to smooth them down, but they didn't move, like they had a mind of their own.

"We've been discussing amputation," the doctor said, watching Kurt examine himself, growing paler. "It's a possibility, but we don't know what could happen. We should do some tests before considering it."

"No," Kurt answered. "This… this is part of me now, even if it is going to make normal life difficult. I can't just get rid of everything I don't like about myself. I've learned that the hard way."

"If they do too much damage to your spine, we might have to remove them, or risk you being paralyzed."

"If that's the case, then fine, but otherwise, they're staying."

James's small, two doored car pulled up to his house. He stripped off his blood-stained lab coat and pulled on a gray blazer and a tie over his black t-shirt, smoothing his hair in the car mirror, then picked up a briefcase full of blank papers and stepped out of the car. He slid into the front door, announcing into the empty hall, "Daddy's home!"

Three toddlers ran to him, throwing their little arms around his legs and yelling happily. His wife, Janice, stepped out behind him, giving him a warm smile and a small peck on the lips. "How was work?" she asked.

"Great," he lied through his teeth (he hated lying to her), "I think I'll be getting a promotion soon. Things are finally looking up for us." And things were. James was sure that the formula would work this time. This could finally give them the break they needed. Janice's mother had allowed them to move in with her when they got pregnant as long as they got married before the triplets were born, but it was obvious she was bitter. No one is exactly happy when their only daughter gets pregnant at 19. He wanted to raise his own kids, live in his own house, be his own man. He would do anything to get the independence he thought would come with adulthood, and the life his wife and kids deserved. And that included designing a serum to turn teenagers into angels.

Adam hung up his lab coat after a long day of research, pulling on his gray trench coat and black scarf. He slipped out the door, flipping up his collar to the biting breeze that usually wouldn't bother anyone else, but warned him of a restless and cold night ahead. It was a long walk back to his favorite park bench, the one with the most protection from wind and rain, but he made the trek every day. He stopped by a gas station on the way to buy a $1.00 burrito that would probably have him throwing up later, but would hopefully fill his stomach long enough for a couple hours of sleep if he could get it.

He hoped this experiment would work out. If it did, he and his partner would get to split one million dollars, which was plenty to buy a house, even a nice one. Their organization's headquarters in Cuba would send in the money as soon as news came in of their success, along with the formula they used to make it work, of course.

Adam couldn't say he liked hurting people, but it was necessary. He was fucking tired of being homeless.

Kurt fell face first on his hospital bed after hours of tests and x-rays. He had always hated hospitals. They just felt sterile and foreboding. They smelled like badly concealed death. Jane had told him to sleep for a couple of hours before a physical therapist came to see him, and give them an accurate prediction on how his wings would affect his spine, and assign some exercises to keep his spine healthy.

Kurt felt exhausted, but he couldn't make himself sleep. His thoughts were racing, and he could feel his feathers ruffling and smoothing with every new thought as he grew more agitated. Every moment he spent inside the hospital made him feel more and more jumpy. His skin itched and he felt restless, like he was going to get up and run at any time. Or fly… Wait where was this thought coming from? Kurt couldn't fly. Or could he? Before he had a chance to be weirded out by these random thoughts, the door flew open and the white haired intern ran into the room, his face buried in his hands.

"Dad," Kurt said warily, "Can you give me a minute?"

His dad looked up at him and then to Jack, then stood and left silently. Kurt patted the chair next to him and Jack sat down, immediately starting to apologize. "I'm sorry Kurt I don't want to bother you but I don't have any other friends and I needed someone to talk to and you seem really nice so I figured you would listen but I'll leave if you want me to-"

"Jack!" Kurt reached out and grabbed both of his hands. "What happened?"

Jack looked up with huge tears leaking from his eyes. "I kissed Aster." His voice was quiet and resigned. Kurt squealed a little, and then leaned forward, folding his hands in his lap.

"What did he say?" Jack wrung his hands, looking at the ground.

"I-I don't know, he just stared at me, and I ran away, and…" Jack rambled off incomprehensibly, shaking with little sobs.

"Jack, trust me. Aster likes you a lot. He was probably just shocked that you made the first move. You need to talk to him." Just at that moment, Aster burst into the room. Jack's head jerked up, and he went paler than he already was.

"A-Aster, I-"Jack was silenced by Aster slamming their lips together. Jack squeaked, his eyes widening in shock as Aster's fingers on one hand threaded themselves in Jack's hair and the other wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. Jack reached up and wrapped his arms around Aster neck, deepening the kiss, sighing softly. Kurt smiled. This was just like a Hallmark film. He felt the tips of his wings flutter slightly. The movement seemed to distract the pair and they broke away quickly, Jack's blush instantly growing deeper when he realized Kurt had been watching the whole thing. "Kurt! Shit that was unprofessional! Sorry."

Kurt smirked. "By all means, keep going."

"Y-You should rest. We'll leave." The two hurriedly left the room.

"Remember to use protection!" Kurt called after them. Jack's blush grew deeper.

Kurt sighed, laying back down on the bed, his wings covering his body like a blanket. He wished he had someone who would kiss him like that; who would love him like Aster clearly loves Jack. Kurt felt like he would never get a moment like the one he just witnessed. How could someone love _him_ , now that he had become a monster? That was the thought he fell asleep with.


	5. Chapter 5

Kurt fell face first on his hospital bed after hours of tests and x-rays. He had always hated hospitals. They just felt sterile and foreboding. They smelled like badly concealed death. Jane had told him to sleep for a couple of hours before a physical therapist came to see him, and give them an accurate prediction on how his wings would affect his spine, and assign some exercises to keep his spine healthy.

Kurt felt exhausted, but he couldn't make himself sleep. His thoughts were racing, and he could feel his feathers ruffling and smoothing with every new thought as he grew more agitated. Every moment he spent inside the hospital made him feel more and more jumpy. His skin itched and he felt restless, like he was going to get up and run at any time. Or fly… Wait where was this thought coming from? Kurt couldn't fly. Or could he? Before he had a chance to be weirded out by these random thoughts, the door flew open and the white haired intern ran into the room, his face buried in his hands.

"Dad," Kurt said warily, "Can you give me a minute?"

His dad looked up at him and then to Jack, then stood and left silently. Kurt patted the chair next to him and Jack sat down, immediately starting to apologize. "I'm sorry Kurt I don't want to bother you but I don't have any other friends and I needed someone to talk to and you seem really nice so I figured you would listen but I'll leave if you want me to-"

"Jack!" Kurt reached out and grabbed both of his hands. "What happened?"

Jack looked up with huge tears leaking from his eyes. "I kissed Aster." His voice was quiet and resigned. Kurt squealed a little, and then leaned forward, folding his hands in his lap.

"What did he say?" Jack wrung his hands, looking at the ground.

"I-I don't know, he just stared at me, and I ran away, and…" Jack rambled off incomprehensibly, shaking with little sobs.

"Jack, trust me. Aster likes you a lot. He was probably just shocked that you made the first move. You need to talk to him." Just at that moment, Aster burst into the room. Jack's head jerked up, and he went paler than he already was.

"A-Aster, I-"Jack was silenced by Aster slamming their lips together. Jack squeaked, his eyes widening in shock as Aster's fingers on one hand threaded themselves in Jack's hair and the other wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. Jack reached up and wrapped his arms around Aster neck, deepening the kiss, sighing softly. Kurt smiled. This was just like a Hallmark film. He felt the tips of his wings flutter slightly. The movement seemed to distract the pair and they broke away quickly, Jack's blush instantly growing deeper when he realized Kurt had been watching the whole thing. "Kurt! Shit that was unprofessional! Sorry."

Kurt smirked. "By all means, keep going."

"Y-You should rest. We'll leave." The two hurriedly left the room.

"Remember to use protection!" Kurt called after them. Jack's blush grew deeper.

Kurt sighed, lying back down on the bed, his wings covering his body like a blanket. He wished he had someone who would kiss him like that; who would love him like Jack loves Aster, and like Aster clearly loves Jack. Kurt felt like he would never get a moment like the one he just witnessed. How could someone love _him_ , now that he had become a monster? That was the thought he fell asleep with.

! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # !

Kurt was shaken awake by his father, who was standing over him, the bags under his eyes diminished slightly since Kurt had convinced him to go home for the night. "Kurt. The physical therapist is here."

Kurt groaned, rolling over and squinting against the bright hospital lights. "Can't I just sleep?"

"Nope. You've gotta get up buddy. If this goes well, they might even let you go home soon."

"Why bother? I won't be able to leave the house anyways." Kurt would never be able to go to school, or New York, or collage, or get a job. He'd have to live inside forever, with only a small amount of people who knew about him for company. He would disappear off the face of the earth, never to even dream of being on Broadway.

"We'll figure something out. I promise. We won't let this stop you. You're amazingly smart and talented. That talent will not go to waste." Burt pulled Kurt sideways into his arms, the hug made awkward by the wings sprouting from Kurt's back.

There was a small knock on the door and Kurt pulled a blanket around his shoulders instinctively as Jane let herself in, followed by a young woman. She was blonde, with green and purple streaks in her long bangs, which she kept swept to the side over her right eye. She was wearing a pink skirt and a green and purple swirled shawl over a white t-shirt with pink high-heels. "Hi Kurt! I'm Anna." she said, closing the door behind her. He voice was high pitched, but not unpleasant. "I'm just going to take a quick look at you and then we can get started. Can you stand?"

"I can with try." He struggled to his feet, holding on to his dad's arm for support. He knew his arms were shaking and he looked pitiful, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Alright! So can I see what's wrong?" She stared at Kurt expectantly, who still had the blanket around his shoulders, successfully covering his wings.

Kurt glanced at Jane for permission, and then let the blanket slip off of his shoulders, his wings involuntarily flapping for a short moment before coming to a rest in their usual position. He stared at the ground self-consciously, and then looked up when only silence met his ears. Ana had dropped the bag she was holding, her jaw hanging open, yet her eyes sparkled with joy and suppressed tears. "Oh my God! They're so beautiful!"

Kurt's eyes snapped back up to her face. Out of all of the words he had expected her to call his mutations; beautiful was not one of them. She moved around behind him, staring intently, her purple eyes roaming up the feathery outer edge, admiring the smooth, muscled curve at their top. She extended a hand and touched them, making Kurt shiver. The feeling of a whole new part of his body being touched, one that he didn't have a week ago, was completely alien to him, totally indescribable.

Her hands moved all over him, applying pressure to every spot on the wings, asking the occasional question. Together, they discovered which areas were more tender and which were tougher and had less feeling. They discovered where he was numb and what places made him yelp when handled too roughly. The whole time, Aster, who had entered earlier without being noticed, made awed comments about the genius complexity of the arrangement of the nerves in his wings.

Finally, she stepped away, smiling at him. "You can sit if you want to."

They talked for a while about possible effects on his spine his wings will have an they did a lot of exercises, many of which left Kurt panting and shaking with exhaustion, frustrated at his newfound weakness brought on by what was now almost two weeks in a hospital bed .

Kurt was finally getting out. After a few more days of tests and exhausting physical therapy sessions, they finally told him he could go home. The new problem Kurt faced was hiding his wings from the public. Kurt, Finn, and their dad tossed around a couple ideas, but all were either too far-fetched or out of style. No one wears capes anymore.

It was only minutes before he had planned to return home when his dad came into the room with a large plastic bag. "I found something for you!" he announced. He pulled a black mass of fabric from the bag with a flourish, holding it up for Kurt to look at. He closed the book he was reading and stood, only wobbling slightly before taking the fabric from his dad. It was a trench coat, long and baggy enough to hide his wings, but not exactly Kurt's preferred style. Cautiously he shrugged it on over the white t shirt (which had two holes ripped in it for his wings) and black pants, spinning around in front of the mirror. There was no sign that anything might be wrong.

"It works well enough." Kurt touched the collar and then the gold buttons, frowning. "It's kind of uncomfortable. And it ruins my figure." He spun around to face his father, smiling widely. "Let's do this!"

At first, he was scared people would notice something was up, but after a few minutes of walking he realized no one was giving him a second thought as he made his way through the white walls, keeping between Finn and their dad in case he got tired.

Sitting in the car was awkward and uncomfortable, a feeling which Kurt has begun to accept as his new reality. As they pulled up to the house, Kurt saw Carol standing on the porch, waving excitedly. She had visited him at the hospital often, but Kurt never told her about his wings, instead choosing to hold a blanket around his shoulders tightly. Since Carol lived with them, she was bound to notice changes in Kurt behavior, so he knew he'd have to tell her eventually. Jane had reluctantly agreed to let the Hummels tell Carol, but they still hadn't gotten around to it. Kurt supposed that it must be really weird and awkward for his dad; his son growing wings wasn't exactly what he signed up for as a parent, but it must've been even weirder for Carol, who was just settling into the family, and then boom: her new stepson has wings.

They had discussed how they should go about telling in the car, and came to a unanimous conclusion. If they had to tell her, why not have a little fun at the same time?

When they got home, Kurt rushed straight to his room to take a shower. He had been able to take a couple showers in the hospital, but his dad had to help him which made it very awkward. At first, they were cautious about getting the wings wet, but they soon discovered that they were waterproof, the liquid sliding off of the smooth feathers without making them even slightly damp.

He stepped out of the shower, finally feeling clean for the first time in two weeks. After all of the physical therapy he had been put through, moving around with his wings was almost effortless, though he still did tend to knock things over when he turned quickly. He examined a white shirt before dejectedly grabbing a pair of scissors a ripping two long holes in the back before getting dressed.

Kurt was glad he could finally do things for himself, and he was going to take advantage of it. He padded into the kitchen and got out the bread, cheese, and butter. He smiled to himself as he melted the butter on the stove, humming along with the Broadway tunes blasting from a nearby speaker. Then, suddenly, he heard a shriek and a crash from the doorway. He spun around to see Carole, her mouth dropped wide open and a smashed coffee cup by her feet. "Kurt!" she gasped.

"What's wrong?" He intoned, his voice calm and level.

"Kurt! You! What!?" she squeaked, staring with wide eyes.

"I have wings now." Kurt shrugged in a _what can you do?_ gesture.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt gave his feathers a few final pats with the towel and carefully shuffled into his room, making deliberate motions the way Anna had showed him. He shivered from the chill of the air conditioner and wrapped his wings around himself, hurrying to his dresser and pulling on some sweatpants and a tank top, being careful not to let any feathers get caught in the slits. Right now, the teen just wanted to lay down and chill.

Kurt flopped down onto his stomach and felt around him for his favorite blanket. It was warm, and fluffy, and he just wanted to cuddle down into it and forget about the world. His plans were hindered, however, when all his hand found was sheets.

Kurt groaned loudly and rolled out of bed, stomping up the stairs and into the living room. "Finn! What did I tell you about stealing my blanket! I could buy you one if you like it so- _holy shit_!" Puck and Finn were sitting on the couch in the living room, playing video games. Puck stared up at him, eyes wide, and his controller lying forgotten on his lap.

"Is this some kind of fetish shit…Or is it like a gay superpower, or…"

 _Oh shit oh shit oh shit ohshitohshitshitshit_

"Finn!" Kurt snapped, his voice shaking slightly. "You didn't tell me he was coming over."

"Dude I'm so sorry. I meant to tell you, I really did! I just forgot. Sorry…"

"What is going on?!" Finn and Kurt exchanged glances, then Finn sighed and turned to the very confused teen.

"When Kurt was…in the hospital, well…this happened." Puck rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, that really clears things up." Puck stood and circled Kurt like a vulture, gawking at his new body. Kurt shrunk down into himself. He wasn't even comfortable with his _own_ eyes looking at his wings, let alone Puck's. "Dude, since when did you actually have muscles?! You don't even look that gay anymore. And I thought that Santana's boob job was impressive." Kurt tried to hide the tears running down his cheeks. Carole and Finn knowing was one thing, but this…this would ruin him. Finn seemed to finally catch on, and cleared his throat.

"Puck, you really can't tell anyone about this."

Puck stayed silent, still staring at his wings. Then Kurt felt a hand rest on his left wing, heard Puck say "Damn, those are soft!" and he snapped. Kurt wrenched his wing from Puck's grip, whirled around, and slapped him with all of his strength. Puck stumbled backwards, holding his cheek and staring up at Kurt in complete shock.

"NO!" Kurt screamed, and fled through the front door, slamming it behind him, and sprinting down the road, just feeling his feet pounding against the sidewalk, and suddenly, they weren't. He barely even noticed; he still felt the wind in his face, the exhilaration, and he just _flew._ The air in his lung and the air smoothly caressing his body became one, and he flew. All of the pain, the anger, the humiliation, everything flowed straight into his wings like rocket fuel, and he flew. Kurt didn't even know if he was laughing or crying or both, his only thought was _away._ Away from all of the pain, the anger, the humiliation. Away from the hospital, from school, from Broadway. Right now, he was _flying._

He didn't know how long he flew; he _definitely_ didn't know how far, but soon the adrenaline wore off and exhaustion started settling into his muscles, creating a deep ache that distracted him from any other thought. Kurt angled himself downwards and slipped under the clouds to get a look at his surroundings. The earth under him was just a carpet of rolling emerald forest, which was beautiful, but looked nothing like Ohio. Kurt had bigger problems than that though. Flying was…instinctual, but landing was a different story.

The teen shuddered in the air, and a surge of panic shot through him. He was so tired, his wings were just burning, and he couldn't…like falling asleep Kurt began floating to the ground.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The black behind his eyelids slowly glowed to red, and he felt a tickling on one leg and a gentle pressure on the other. Kurt slowly blinked his eyes open and winced at the sudden sunlight. His body felt warm and comfortable and supported, kissed by the rays from above, and…Kurt's eyes shot open. Where were his clothes?

He quickly sat up, but immediately regretted it as his brain decided to hurt. And once his brain started to everything else did too; it was like a switch being flipped. All of a sudden, pain enveloped him and Kurt didn't even realize he was crying out until he felt strong hands gripping his shoulders and holding him still. Then a distinctly male voice came into focus, but it sounded like he was hearing it from underwater. "–ld still. I don't want you making your injuries worse." Kurt caught his breath and slowly looked up at the man holding him.

He was scruffy, and not in a five o' clock shadow kind of way, but in the "I cut my beard off with a Swiss Army knife when it got caught in a bear trap" kind of way. His dark hair was pulled back in a horrific man bun. It was sad. But the weird part was that the guy seemed to have no problem with his wings. The man continued what he was doing, which was apparently rubbing some sort of gritty green paste onto his leg, half of which was dangled into a swiftly running river.

The two sat in, for Kurt, awkward silence, accompanied only by the gurgle of the stream and the chirping of the birds. Kurt cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Um…where exactly am I? And who are you?" The man didn't look up as he began to wrap Kurt's leg tightly in ace bandages.

"You're either in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, maybe Tennessee…but it was North Carolina in a town a couple of miles from here, so that's my best guess. I'm Brian Reynolds. Who're you?"

"Kurt Hummel," Kurt said, watching the man warily as he move on from his leg, now pouring water over his left wing, which he assumed had been torn up by branches during his fall. God, how was he still alive?

Brian nodded, not looking up from his task. Kurt's wings kept twitching under the unexpected contact, but Brian just held them firmly still. Kurt cried out when the man pressed a wet bandage onto a particularly sensitive spot near the edge of his wing. Whatever was on that _stung._

"I made a poultice for your wounds. Squirrel tail." Kurt choked and pushed his hand away.

"Squirrel tail?!" Brian rolled his eyes.

"Yarrow, to stop the bleeding. Not actual squirrel tail. Now let me get back to work." The southern man placed the patches of fabric over all of the wounds covering his wings with a firm but gentle hand, and then _finally_ gave Kurt his pants back, which were warm from drying in the sun. Kurt was _so_ glad that those weren't designer.

Slowly, Brian helped Kurt to his feet and supported him as they made their way a couple of yards behind them back to his camp, which consisted of an eno stretched between two trees and a makeshift fire circle. Kurt couldn't put any weight on his ankle; when he did, it gave out with a dagger of pain as reward for his troubles. He set Kurt down against a tree, lobbed a log onto a glowing bed of coals and started feeding it small sticks until a flame sprang to life.

"So, I won't ask how you got here, but is there anywhere you need to get?" Kurt shifted uncomfortably.

"Lima Ohio."


End file.
